Tuesday, June 12, 2007

RoboCup 2007 Atlanta Newsletter #4

Less than 3 weeks to go! This newsletter contains very
important information for RoboCup participants. Please
read it carefully.

Topics in this newsletter:

o Venues and Schedule
o Hotels and Campus Housing
o Are you Registered Correctly?
o Shipping Robots and Equipment
o Share your pictures!
o Do you need 220V?

Our next newsletter will provide details on travel from the
airport to check in and registration.

------------------------------------------------------------
Venues and Schedule

There are four venues for RoboCup 2007. They are all
located on or near the Georgia Tech campus. They are all
walking distance from each other, but we will also have
special buses running throughout the day to connect them.

The Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center (CRC) is the
main robot venue. The CRC is located next to west campus
housing where senior teams have rooms. TSRB is the main
venue for simulation events and the Nanogram Demonstration.
The Georgia Tech Student Center will host Junior Dance and
Junior Rescue (Junior Soccer will be in the CRC). The
4LL and Microsoft Challenge will be held in the Fox Theatre
during the preliminary rounds (July 1-6). They relocate
from the Fox to the CRC for the finals.

Draft schedules for the overall event, and arranged per
league are available here:

http://www.robocup-us.org/schedule-detailed.html
http://www.robocup-us.org/schedule-league.html

Detailed maps are here:

http://www.robocup-us.org/lodging.html


------------------------------------------------------------
Hotels and Campus Housing

Registration for campus housing is CLOSED. Please be
be advised that if you are staying on campus, your badge
(credential) will indicate this. For security and safety
we request that you wear your badge at all times.

If you don't have a room reservation, NOW is the time to
get one. We have been advised by the Indigo Hotel that they
still have rooms. We recommend Indigo because it is a quite
attractive hotel at a low price, and it is located across
the street from the Fox Theatre. Be sure to ask for the
RoboCup rate of $105.

http://www.midtownatlantahotel.com


------------------------------------------------------------
Are you Registered Correctly?

Registration is now closed. Please make sure you and your
team are registered correctly. You can check your
registration here:

http://www.georgiarobotics.com/robocup/teams/

We will keep this site up only briefly, and it is secured
with a password to protect private information:

atlanta
registration


------------------------------------------------------------
Shipping Robots and Equipment

We have set up a receiving center at Georgia Tech for the
express purpose of receiving robots and other equipment
for RoboCup 2007.

All costs for shipping to Georgia Tech, and then back to
your university must be handled by you. When you arrange
shipping to Atlanta, please also arrange for shipping back
to your university.

We accept responsibility for your equipment when it arrives
at Georgia Tech. Your crates will be delivered to the
appropriate venue when that venue opens. After the
competition we will transport the crates back to our
receiving center to be picked up by the shipping companies.

Detailed instructions are at the page below. Please
follow the instructions carefully:

http://www.robocup-us.org/transportationandshipping.html


------------------------------------------------------------
Share Your Pictures!

We have set up a website for sharing photos of RoboCup 2007.
We invite all participants and spectators to post their
photos there. Start now by showing us pictures of your home
university.

There are some photos now of the venues:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/robocup


------------------------------------------------------------
Do you Need 220V?

We will provide standard US power outlets at paddock areas.
Standard US power is 110 V AC at 60 Hz. Some leagues and
teams have asked about 220 or 240 V AC power. It is
difficult (and expensive) to anticipate who will need which
type, so we request you purchase an appropriate converter
at the store below, and have the converter shipped to your
team at Georgia Tech:

http://www.voltageconverters.com/voltage_converters.html

Use the following address:

Your Name / RoboCup 07 XXXXXX League
College of Computing
888 Hemphill Avenue NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
USA

Shipping takes two days from the supplier.

____________________________________________________________
We are able to host RoboCup 2007 Atlanta thanks to the
generosity of:

KUKA Robotics
Microsoft
CITIZEN
Lockheed Martin
Georgia Tech

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Call for Open Platform deadline extended to May 31

Call for Tender: A Standard Robot Platform for Robot Soccer
Demo proposal deadline is now extended to May 31, 2007.
Check the details at http://www.robocup.org/cfp/84.html
You can also check four tenderers already received invitation for demonstration at Atlanta.

Monday, May 7, 2007

RoboCupJunior Registration Information

RoboCup 2007 Atlanta Junior Registration Information


This issue is all about registration.

o Website
o Registration deadlines
o Registration overview
o Housing and meal plans
o Hotels and transportation
o Payment problems and options

------------------------------------------------------------
Junior registration is open. The website is here:

https://georgiarobotics.dndchosting.com/robocup/phase2junior/

Access to the page requires a password that can be provided
by the country leaders.


------------------------------------------------------------ Registration deadline is May 15

Important: On campus housing is limited and it is available
on a first come basis. The deadline for on campus housing
registration is May 15, 2007. We cannot promise
availability of on campus housing after that date.


------------------------------------------------------------
Registration overview

Registration is set up in an "a la carte" fashion so that
participants can register only the components of the event
they are interested in. So for example, a robot team with
one advisor member and two students would register as
follows:

Team Registration: $100 (includes advisor)
2 x Student Registration: $75 + $75
Total: $250

Housing and meals are also available (see below).


------------------------------------------------------------
Housing and meal plans

We are excited to offer housing for advisors, students and
parents on the Georgia Tech campus. The primary advantages
of on campus housing include low cost, location near the
venues, and the spirit of RoboCup community we expect
with everyone living together.

Housing includes air-conditioning, access to wired Internet
(a daily fee may apply) and a telephone connection.

Dorm rooms for Junior participants include two beds and two
desks. A shared bathroom is available down the hall.

American-style meal plans are also available in a modern
dining hall adjacent to campus housing. Many food options
are available, including custom grilled food, pizza, and
cafeteria-style selections.


------------------------------------------------------------
Hotels and transportation

A special shuttle bus service has been set up to transport
participants from campus housing and nearby hotels to all of
the venues.

We have reserved blocks of rooms in nearby hotels. Three of
the recommended hotels (Georgian Terrace, Indigo, Georgia
Tech Hotel) are on the shuttle bus route.

When you call one of these hotels to make a reservation,
please let them know that you want the RoboCup rate. To see
the list of recommended hotels, visit:

http://www.robocup-us.org/lodging.html

Other hotels are available nearby, but we do not recommend
them.


------------------------------------------------------------
Payment problems and options

Several hundred attendees have successfully registered using
our process through PayPal. However, some people are having
trouble. We are sorry to hear about the difficulties. The
key difficulty seems to be that in some countries, PayPal
sets a low maximum purchase amount for non-members. The
limit in the US is $2000, in other countries the limit is lower.
Here are suggested work arounds:

1. Divide your registration into several smaller
purchases.

2. Become a PayPal member. We realize this is not
desireable for some, but it does lift the
purchasing limit.

We are available to answer any questions by email at

customerservice@georgiarobotics.com

Thursday, April 12, 2007

registration update

Dear all,

Thank you everyone for working to register over the last few days!

We are now processing all those registrations. Every email and request will be answered. If your registration request was entered by now, please do not worry, we are working on it.

We also have emails from folks who have had difficulty to enter their registration. Those will certainly be accounted for. Give us a few days to work on it.

Tucker

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

registration reminder

This is a reminder for you to make your reservations for housing at RoboCup 2007 today or tomorrow (April 11).

This week we must "buy" the block of rooms from our university. After that they will release the extra rooms, so we cannot guarantee availability of on campus housing after that time. We do have rooms blocked at nearby hotels, but there are not enough for everyone, so please get your on campus reservations.

It is also very important to register your robot and simulation teams this week as well. We need a firm count on the teams that will be attending in each league so that we can reserve an appropriate amount of space and resources in the venues.

Thanks everybody!

Tucker

Sunday, April 8, 2007

CALL FOR DEMONSTRATIONS - RoboCup@Space

CALL FOR DEMONSTRATION - SRoboCup @ Space
1 - 10 July 2007, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Robotics role in space exploration has become prominent in recent years both due to the complexity and duration of the missions which makes human presence difficult and dangerous, and also encouraged by the success of NASA Mars Exploration Rovers. The world’s top space agencies (NASA, JAXA, ESA) currently have their own roadmap on space robotics research and development, particularly targeting planetary rovers for Mars and Moon missions, as well as robotic assistants to help astronauts perform their tasks, on board the spacecraft and/or at the planetary surface.

RoboCup has been showing, for more than 10 years, how robotic competitions foster considerable advances in Robotics research and development. IEEE is now preparing its first official robot competition in 2008, during ICRA, and the theme will be Space Robotics. NASA, JAXA and ESA have expressed interest in these kinds of activities, as a mean of providing extra inputs to their research.

The Board of Trustees of the RoboCup Federation has decided to start a new RoboCup league, RoboCup@Space, under the theme of Space Robotics. Asa first step towards reaching that goal, demonstrations of space robots will take place during RoboCup 2007, in Atlanta.

TOPICS
The demonstrations will be open, and can cover different topics of interest for Space Robotics research, such as

  • system architecture and middleware for robotic systems
  • autonomous navigation and control
  • mobility in rough and possibly unknown terrain
  • human-robot interfaces and interaction methodologies
  • cooperative robots
  • planetary rovers
  • robotic assistants


SUBMISSIONS
We solicit submissions of demonstration proposals, based on a (max 1-page A4) description of the activity to be carried out. The proposal should includeDemo title Name, affiliation, and email of all authors Name, email, and postal address of corresponding author Phone and fax of corresponding authorKeywords concerning involved research (max 5) Main description (including brief summary of infrastructure needed at venue)
All submissions will be acknowledged within a few days. Proposals will be reviewed for quality and feasibility, taking into account the available space at the venue and the required infrastructure.

Important Dates
  • April 30, 2007 Submissions due
  • May 19, 2007 Notification of acceptance/rejection
  • July 3-8, 2007 Demonstrations


ORGANIZATION
Chairs:


  • Ayanna M. Howard
    School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
    Georgia Institute of TechnologyAtlanta, GA 30319 USA
    email: ayanna.howard at ece.gatech.edu
    http://humanslab.ece.gatech.edu

  • Daniele Nardi
    Dipartimento di Informatica e SistemisticaUniversita' di Roma "La Sapienza"
    Via Salaria 113, 00198 ROMA, Italy
    email:nardi at dis.uniroma1.it
    http://www.dis.uniroma1.it/~nardi

  • Pedro U. Lima
    Instituto de Sistemas e RoboticaInstituto Superior Tecnico
    Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
    email: pal at isr.ist.utl.pt
    http://omni.isr.ist.utl.pt/~pal

  • RoboCup 2007 Atlanta Newsletter #3

    RoboCup 2007 Atlanta Newsletter #3


    This issue is all about registration! In this issue:

    o Registration deadlines
    o Registration overview
    o Housing and meal plans
    o Hotels and transportation
    o Payment problems and options


    ------------------------------------------------------------
    Registration deadline extended to April 11

    Important: On campus housing is limited and it is available on a first come basis. The deadline for on campus housing registration is April 11, 2007. We cannot promise availability of on campus housing after that date.

    We have extended the deadline for early registration for league participation to April 11th as well. Please register as soon as possible.


    ------------------------------------------------------------
    Registration overview

    Registration is set up in an "a la carte" fashion so that participants can register for components of the event they are interested in. So for example, a robot team with one faculty member and two students would register as follows:

    Team Registration: $550
    Faculty Registration: $407
    2 x Student Registration: $242 + $242
    Total: $1441

    Housing and meals are also available (see below).


    ------------------------------------------------------------
    Housing and meal plans

    We are excited to offer housing for faculty and students on the Georgia Tech campus. The primary advantages of on campus housing include low cost, location adjacent to the main venue, and the sense of RoboCup community we expect with everyone living together.

    Two types of housing are available: Traditional dorm rooms and apartments. Both types of housing include air-conditioning, wired Internet and a telephone connection.

    Traditional dorm rooms include two beds and two desks. A shared bathroom is available down the hall.

    Apartments provide a roomy and relaxed environment. They include four private bedrooms (one person each) that adjoin a shared livingroom and kitchen. There are two bathrooms in each apartment.

    See: http://georgiarobotics.com/robocup/housing/index.html

    American-style meal plans are also available in a modern dining hall adjacent to campus housing. Many food options are available, including custom grilled food, pizza, and cafeteria-style selections.

    See: http://georgiarobotics.dndchosting.com/robocup/meals/index.html


    ------------------------------------------------------------
    Hotels and transportation

    A special shuttle bus service has been set up to transport participants from campus housing and nearby hotels to all of the venues.

    We have reserved blocks of rooms in nearby hotels. Three of the recommended hotels (Georgian Terrace, Indigo, Georgia Tech Hotel) are on the shuttle bus route.

    When you call one of these hotels to make a reservation, please let them know that you want the RoboCup rate. To see the list of recommended hotels, visit:

    http://www.robocup-us.org/lodging.html

    Other hotels are available nearby, but we do not recommend them.


    ------------------------------------------------------------
    Payment problems and options

    Several hundred attendees have successfully registered using our process through PayPal. However, some people are having
    trouble. We are sorry to hear about the difficulties. The key difficulty seems to be that in some countries, PayPal sets a maximum purchase amount for non-members. (The limit in the US is $2000). Here are suggested work arounds:

    1. Divide your registration into several smaller purchases.

    2. Become a PayPal member. We realize this is not desireable for some, but it does lift the purchasing limit.

    As an additional option, teams can request an invoice from us. The invoice can then be paid by credit card or wire transfer. For information on this process, go here:

    http://www.georgiarobotics.com/robocup/invoice-wire-instructions.html

    We are available to answer any questions by email.


    ____________________________________________________________
    We are able to host RoboCup 2007 Atlanta thanks to the
    generosity of:

    CITIZEN
    Lockheed Martin
    Georgia Tech

    If you wish to subscribe to this newsletter visit
    https://lists.cc.gatech.edu/mailman/listinfo/robocup-updates
    or visit robocupblog.blogspot.com